An Introduction to the Major World Religions of India

(A twelve-week outline of a prospective course on Major World Religions of India)

Robert R. Wadholm

Week One: Introducing the Topic

I. Introduction

A. The text that will be utilized in this twelve week teaching module on world

religions is Lewis M. Hopfe and Mark R. Woodward’s (2005) Religions of the

World, 9th Ed.: Media and Research Update.

1. It includes the history of each major world religion, its founders and

central contributors, sample texts from the religions, spotlights on the

present state of each religion, and major doctrines, divisions, and holy

days of each major world religion.

2. Hopfe and Woodward include several religions that are not covered in

other introductory texts on religion (Fisher 1999; Hume 1959). The text is

very basic and general in its analyses (making it ideal for use in an

introductory course) .

3. The textbook comes with additional digital research material provided

online and in CD-ROM format, and includes color and black and white

pictures of rituals, statues, buildings, and sacred texts of many of the

world religions.

4. The textbook contains short excerpts of primary sources on major world

religions, including sacred scriptures, stories, myths, and creeds.

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 5. The text is not written from a single religious perspective, but instead

offers an objective approach to each religion, recognizing each religion’s

contributions within its own contexts.

B. The major world religions of India that will be introduced are: Basic Religions,

Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.

1. Islam has not been included in our discussion of Indian religions

because although it is a major force in Indian religion today, it is usually

classified with other religions that arose in the Middle East (i.e. Judaism,

Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Baha’i).

2. Buddhism is no longer a strong force in modern Indian religion, but it

originated in India and retains many distinctive Indian traits (at one time in

its history it dominated Indian religion and nearly forced Vedic and

Upanishadic Hinduism into nonexistence).

3. Basic religions, while they are not unique to India, do appear to have

arisen and have been developed all over the world throughout the several

millennia of human history, and they existed in India prior to the other

major world religions and greatly influenced these later religions.

a) In many cases basic religions have been extensively syncretized

with the later religions. Basic religions continue to influence the

beliefs and practices of the other major world religions of India.

b) Very little objective historical information exists concerning the

development of basic religions in India, however, so we will

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 limit our discussion of basic religions to the presentation of a few

general characteristics and the value of the basic religions of India.

C. Each of the five major world religions of India will be analyzed separately.

1. Each religion’s basic background will be explored.

2. Each religion’s central doctrines will be examined.

3. Each religion’s values will be assessed.

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 Week 2: Introducing the Topic (Continued)

D. Discuss the meaning of the term “Major World Religions of India.”

1. “Major” refers both to the number of adherents and to the impact of the

religion on the present world scene.

2. “World” refers to the global impact or universal scope of the religion.

3. “Religion” is a notoriously hard-to-define word (Tillich 1969).

a) It refers to a commonly held set of beliefs concerning ultimate

reality (metaphysics, god, life after death, etc.), ultimate values,

and the ultimate concerns of societies.

b) It refers to a system of ethics, myths, rituals, scriptures,

and doctrines of the afterlife that have been adhered to by large

groups of people (Hopfe and Woodward 2005).

c) It refers to human action in relationship to the supernatural.

d) It refers to a mystical and subjective feeling of worship and

union with the Ultimate (Hall, Pilgrim, and Cavanagh 1985).

4. “Of India” refers to the Indian origination of the religions that will be

explored.

E. Discuss why it is important to understand the major world religions.

1. In order to communicate with people, we need to understand where they

come from (e.g. their worldviews, first languages, cultures, and religions).

2. Understanding people’s beliefs concerning ultimate reality helps us

understand better why the world is the way it is.

a) Discuss the importance of religion to politics.

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 b) Discuss the importance of religion to technology, science, and

economics.

c) Discuss the importance of religion to media, art, economics, and

ecology.

3. Understanding the major world religions allows meaningful dialogue to

occur between adherents of different religions (in an exclusivist context,

dialogue is necessary before an effective apologetic can be constructed).

F. Discuss why it is important to understand the major world religions of India.

1. India has nearly a billion people in it.

2. India is increasingly important in the world political and economic

scenes.

3. India is a hotbed for religious synthesis and formation.

4. Western religious life is increasingly saturated with practices and

beliefs of Indian religions (e.g. yogic practices, mystical monism, and

pantheism).

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 Week Three: Basic Religions

II. Basic Religions

A. Discuss the background of basic religions.

1. Basic religions “represent the majority of the total religious experience

of humankind” (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 14). Basic religions have

taken on many forms throughout history.

2. There are two primary sources of basic religions.

a. Contemporary basic religions can be examined for common

characteristics. Also, various aspects of basic religions that have

been syncretized into the major world religions of India may be

identified and assessed.

b. The findings of archaeology may also be assessed in order to

understand characteristics of prehistoric religions, and religions

that are now nonexistent.

3. Little is known about the early basic religions of India (Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 73). However, from archaeological evidence it may be

argued that the pre-Aryan inhabitants of India had already formed a

complex civilization by 2500 B.C.E. Amulets, idols, prayer, meditation,

sacrifices, and devotion to fertility gods and goddesses seem to have

characterized these early forms of Indian religion (75).

4. It is important to understand the general characteristics, strengths, and

weaknesses of basic religions in order to appreciate the uniqueness of the

other major world religions of India and to valuate aspects that have been

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 borrowed from basic religious belief and practice by the other major world

religions of India.

B. Define and discuss several general characteristics of basic religions (19–28).

1. Animism is “the belief that nature is alive with spirits that have feelings

and can be communicated with” (19).

2. Magic is the belief that formulas, dancing, incantations, and imitation

can be used by humans to manipulate the spiritual and physical world.

3. Divination is the belief that humans can obtain knowledge of the future

through various means.

4. Taboo is the belief that certain actions have negative impacts on society

and that certain holy persons, places, and objects must be left alone by

common people (23).

5. Sacrifice is the offering of material objects to some entity in the

spiritual world. Animals, man-made items, agricultural items, and even

other humans have been used as sacrifices. Sometimes sacrifices are

destroyed or killed, while at other times sacrifices are viewed as gifts.

6. Myths are “stories about the dealings of the gods with humans” (25).

7. Idolatry is the use of images in the worship of supernatural entities.

Usually the idol is made to look like (or represent) a holy person, animal,

or god. Shrines and monuments are also used to venerate gods, holy

places, sacred objects, holy people, and ancestors. Ancestor veneration

continues to play a vital role in the religious life of Asia.

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 8. Syncretism (e.g., with Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and other basic

religions) has affected many (if not all) of the world’s basic religions.

C. Discuss the value of basic religions.

1. Assess the strengths of basic religions.

a) They have a long history.

b) They often embrace every part of a peoples’ culture.

c) They help to explain the origin and nature of the material world.

2. Assess the weaknesses of traditional religions.

a) They are so numerous, varied, and subjective that it is

impossible to pin down specific common beliefs and rituals (so

that we cannot consider any of them to be a major world religion).

b) They are pre-scientific or anti-scientific.

c) They often feed on personal fears, lust for power, or feelings of

powerlessness.

d) They lack any absolute moral standards and often fail to provide

any bases for intrinsic ethical formulation.

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 Week Four: Hinduism

III. Hinduism

A. Discuss the background of Hinduism.

1. Hinduism has gone through six major periods of development.

a) Early Vedic Hinduism, characterized by ritual worship of the

gods.

b) Late Vedic Hinduism, characterized by fire sacrifices.

c) Upanishadic Hinduism, characterized by philosophical inquiry

and development.

d) Legalistic Hinduism, characterized by the codification of

various laws for ethical and religious life.

e) Brahmanical Hinduism, characterized by pragmatic forms of

worship.

f) Modern Hinduism, characterized by revivals of older forms of

Hinduism and a new focus on Hinduism’s universalism.

2. The history of Early Vedic Hinduism is intimately tied to the coming of

the Aryans (an Indo-European group of immigrants and conquerors from

northern Iran) to India from 1750 to 1200 B.C.E. (Hopfe and Woodward

2005, 76).

a) The Aryans developed a basic caste system.

b) They developed a religion based on sacrifice and worship.

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 c) They borrowed extensively from early Aryan religion and mixed

in indigenous Indian elements (from the basic religions that existed

there before their arrival).

d) They composed and collected hymns (Vedas) praising their

deities and setting forth proper rules for ritual sacrifices.

1) The earliest of the veda (“body of knowledge”)

collections was the Rig Veda (“the body of knowledge

concerning verses of praise”) (Hopkins 1971, 11).

2) The Vedas worshiped gods called devas. The most

important deva was Varunna, who guarded cosmic order,

ruled by righteousness, and who was “the standard for

cosmic, moral, and liturgical order” (12). Other important

deities were Vishnu (who later grew to a more prominent

position in Hindu theology), Indra the thunder god, Rundra

the god of healing and destruction, and Indra the

atmospheric god of war (12–14).

3) Fire sacrifice dominated the rituals of Vedic Hinduism.

Priests performed rites and composed and sang the Vedas.

Wealthy patrons often supported their own priests (14–15).

3. In the late Vedic period (between the 10th and 7th centuries B.C.E.), the

fire sacrifice became all-important in Hindu worship, and this marked a

decline in the importance of most of the major Vedic gods in favor of

rituals and the more popular gods specifically associated with the

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performance of sacrifices (especially the god of fire) (Hopkins 1971, 17).

This period saw the composition of the Brahamanas, religious documents

composed by Hindu priests that dealt with sacrifices (Hume 1959, 24).

a) Consequently, magic found a greater role in sacrifice (Hopkins

1971, 27).

b) A deterministic view of nature developed.

c) Knowledge was all-important in unlocking the power of rituals

(31).

d) Creation was thought to exist and be sustained by sacrifice.

Humans (through priests) fulfilled a vital role and obtained

immortality in the afterlife through the performance of proper

rituals (34).

e) Later, “fear arose that even this state (of immortality in paradise)

was not free from death,” due to the finite nature of the rituals

performed (34).

f) The concept of “redeath” arose, and the cyclical view of time

was developed): “A new understanding of man was needed” (34).

(34). The Upanishads (a collection of the teachings of late ancient

Vedic Hindu philosopher-priests) were composed in this

inquisitive context.

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 Week Five: Hinduism (Continued)

4. During the transitional Upanishadic period, it was reasoned that the

ritual sacrifices were the universe. Brahman (the Ultimate Supreme Being)

sustains the power of the sacrifices, and thus sustains the universe

(Hopkins 1971, 38). The self (atman) of humans are to be identified with

the Brahman (39).

a) If humans can know themselves as the Brahman, they can be

complete in themselves, self-existent, wise, and immortal (38;

Atharva Veda 10.8.44).

b) The Upanishads established several new (or newly synthesized)

doctrines.

1) Self is essentially free of the body.

2) It is desire that leads to birth and rebirth.

3) The elimination of desire eliminates rebirth.

4) The means of eliminating desire (and rebirth) is

knowledge: knowledge that the self and Brahman are one

(Hopkins 1971, 40–42). Read the Katha Upanishad, part 6

(trans. Mascaro 1965, 65–66).

5) Knowledge that is true knowledge will transform the

behavior and mindset of an individual (i.e. it is not merely

theoretical knowledge that is necessary) (48;

Brihadaranyaka 4.4.24–28).

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 6) Release from samsara (“passage,” the transient and

cyclical karma-produced nature of the universe) became

the central goal.

c) The shift in ideology from Vedic to Upanishadic Hinduism led

to some amount of despair among the common people in the 6th

century B.C.E.

1) Upanishadic wisdom generally was above the ability of

the common people to follow. Read and discuss the

Mundaka Upanishad, part three, chapter one (Mascaro

1965, 80–81).

2) New ways of thinking and acting within the general

Hindu worldview were sought in this time of change, and

this resulted in the creation of two new world religions

(Buddhism and Jainism) (Hopkins 1971, 50–51).

d) Major political and social changes from the 4th to 3rd centuries

B.C.E. (most significantly the rule of Candragupta Maurya and his

descendants) gave rise to the popularity and the increasingly

missionary nature of Jainism and Buddhism, and the near

abandonment of Vedic and Upanishadic Hinduism (58–59).

5. From 300 B.C.E. to 300 C.E. the religious legalism of Indian culture

and early Vedic Hinduism was codified in The Law of Manu. The

codification of rules for society and religion arose from a renewed

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emphasis on law in Hinduism. This period has thus been called the period

of legalistic Hinduism (Hume 1959, 28).

a) The Law of Manu stressed the importance and religious

significance of the caste system, and codified a clear-cut dharma

for each caste.

1) In legalistic Hinduism, dharma referred to “rules

that support or maintain a proper society” (Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 85).

2) One new development of The Law of Manu was its

delineation of the four stages of the life of an upper-caste

man. Men were expected to be youthful students, married

householders, retired hermits, and then religious

mendicants (Hume 1959, 29).

b) In addition to codifying rules for social behavior in Indian

society, legalistic Hinduism emphasized the superiority of men

over women (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 86–87), even to the

point of allowing wife-beating within certain limits (The Law of

Manu 8:299–300; Hume 1959, 29).

c) “The moral aims of the era are summed up in the following ten

characteristics: pleasantness, patience, control of the mind, non-

stealing, purity, control of the senses, intelligence, knowledge,

truthfulness, and non-irritability” (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 87;

The Law of Manu 6:92).

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6. In the early centuries of the 1st millennium A.D., Hindus began to

develop further the practical method of yoga (religious meditation and

action) in response to the more pragmatic and popular nature of non-vedic

movements in India (mainly Jainism and Buddhism), and the importance

of theism reemerged (Hopkins 1971, 64). This new, more popular form of

Hinduism became identified as Brahmanical Hinduism.

a) Several general characteristics of Brahmanical Hinduism were

image worship, mantras, and the internalization and the

individualization of religion.

b) A synthesis was arrived at which brought together certain

ancient Hindu doctrines (worship of the gods, introspective

meditation, reincarnation, karma, etc.) with the pragmatism of the

non-vedic Indian religions.

c) The syllable “om” became the centerpiece of meditation—“the

sound essence of the Vedic sacrifice”—and the image worship of

the gods became the “visual essence” of worship (73).

d) The Bhagavad Gita was composed in this context (Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 90–92).

e) The revival of Hindu theism in the form of Brahmanical

Hinduism brought with it greater focus on the gods Sira and

Vishnu than had previously been given in Vedic Hinduism. Other

popular gods were worshiped as well. Images of the gods were

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seen as “divine power made manifest in form” (Hopkins 1971,

113).

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 Week Six: Hinduism (Continued)

7. Five main forms of modern Hinduism have developed over the last

millennium. The fifth form is the most modern of the five.

a) Brahmanical Hinduism focuses on intellectualism and

pragmatism.

b) Various devotional and Vedic theistic sects focus on reviving

ancient rites, mysticism, and asceticism.

c) Popular devotionalism focuses on individualistic forms of

worship and belief, and on the mystical experiences of poet-saints

(Hopkins 1971, 119).

d) Tantric systems focus on the worship of the goddess Devi in her

many forms (often with corresponding sex rites) (119–130).

e) Modern universalistic Hinduism focuses on the synthesis of

various aspects of Indian religions into a monolithic structure

called Hinduism. It is modern universalistic Hinduism that is

responsible for Hinduism’s status as a major world religion

(instead of being seen as a diverse set of major Indian religions).

1) The rise of a “Hindu Renaissance” was closely tied to

the growing Indian nationalism of the past two centuries.

2) This Hindu revivalism is an attempt to universalize

Hinduism, and bring many different Indian religious

traditions under one banner. Rituals and idolatry are at a

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popular level, and above that we find the ethical spirituality

of the Upanishads and Gita (Flood 1996, 250).

3) Several important features of the modern revival of

Hinduism are “an emphasis on reason to establish the truth

of the Veda; the rejection of icon worship, regarded as

idolatry; the rejection of caste (or some elements of it),

child-marriage and the practice of widow-burning (sati);

the construction of Hinduism as an ethical spirituality,

equal, or superior, to Christianity and Islam” (250–251).

4) Two major proponents of modern universalistic

Hinduism were the Hindu mystic Paramahamsa

Ramakrishna, and his disciple Vivekananda.

i. Ramakrishna taught that “all religions are

different paths to the One . . . . Different religions

cannot express the totality of this One, but each

manifests an aspect of it” (256–257).

ii. Vivekananda was probably the first person “to

clearly articulate the idea of Hinduism as a world

religion,” alongside Christianity, Islam, Judaism

and Buddhism (258–259). Vivekananda emphasized

Hinduism’s pluralism, rejected Christianity’s

exclusivism (258), and asserted that Buddhism was

“the fulfillment, the logical conclusion, and the

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 logical development of the religion of the Hindus”

(Walker 1968a, 186).

B. Discuss the major doctrines of Hinduism.

1. Early Aryan Vedic Hinduism (Hinduism that found expression in the

ancient Vedic hymn collections) centered on gods called devas (Hopkins

1971, 11). The three realms of divine activity were the sky, the

atmosphere, and the earth (11). The powers of nature controlled the lives

of humans, and devas controlled the powers of nature.

2. Late Vedic Hinduism developed the idea of samsara. Samsara is the

cycle of birth, death, and rebirth of humans and the universe. Rebirth in

good or bad conditions depends on previous actions (in prior lives) in a

cyclical cause and effect relationship (Hopkins 1971, 44; Chandogya

5.10.7). Samsara and reincarnation are key themes in all the major world

religions originating in India.

a. The belief in reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul are

by no means an exclusively Eastern idea. Walker (1968a) and

Bouquet (1948) suggest that “the doctrine of divine reincarnation

in human form originated somewhere outside India, perhaps in the

northwest of Iran, and became diffused eastward and westward

from this area” (72).

b. In Plato’s Phaedo (set at the end of the 4th century B.C.E.),

Socrates refers to the ideas of reincarnation and transmigration as

an “ancient doctrine” (trans. Jowett 1992, 67). In Greek thought

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reincarnation is referred to as metempsychosis, and finds as its

proof the idea of “recollection” (68–73). In Socrates’ schema, as in

Hinduism, reincarnation is dependant upon a cyclical view of time

(70–73).

c. The Greeks and Aryans probably share a common ancestry in

the Indo-European tribes of Eastern Europe in the 2nd millennium

B.C.E. (Hopkins 1971, 10).

d. The Aryans that left Iran and in the end settled in India

composed the Veda, while the Aryans that stayed in Iran

eventually composed a series of hymns entitled Gathas. By the

time of Zoroaster (the traditional founder of the major world

religion Zoroastrianism that began in Iran in 1400–1000 B.C.E.),

the idea of the transmigration of the soul based on a cyclical view

of time had already been established as a doctrine in Iranian Aryan

religion and was further developed by Zoroaster (Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 222–224).

e. Plato and other Greek philosophers had a strong affinity for

Zoroastrianism (223).

f. Zoroaster’s religion came to India (in Zoroaster’s own lifetime)

about the same time that the idea of reincarnation entered into

late Vedic thought (224).

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g. The idea that a similar formulation of reincarnation based on a

cyclical view of time would arise independently in three different

cultures in the ancient world is highly improbable.

h. The two most probable scenarios for the creation and spread of

the cyclical view of time, reincarnation, and transmigration in the

ancient world are:

1) The ideas were developed by early Indo-Europeans in

northern Iran in the 2nd century.

2) The ideas were developed by Iranian Aryans and spread

with the Zoroastrian religion both East to India and West to

Greece.

i. The later of the two scenarios seems the most reasonable

because early Aryan Vedic Hinduism had no known traces of the

ideas of reincarnation or a cyclical view of time.

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 Week Seven: Hinduism (Continued)

3. Karma “is based on the premise that the whole world order rests on

rigid principles dominated by the immutable law of cause of effect”

(Walker 1968a, 529). Karma is the sum total of a person’s willed

thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions, from this and past lives, and makes

up the “chain of his existence” (530). A person is punished by his or her

sins, not for them (530).

4. Dharma is right conduct, teaching and order. Dharma is related to

karma and the caste system. “It is only within the caste framework that the

obligations of dharma may be best observed” (275), and nowhere is this

idea more clearly portrayed than in the The Law of Manu.

a. Read The Law of Manu 1:88–91 (qtd. in Hopfe and Woodward

2005, 85).

b. Discuss how a person’s dharma affects their karma and vice

versa, then read The Law of Manu 12:9 (qtd. in Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 86).

5. Brahmanical Hinduism refined the idea and practice of yoga (while

yoga existed in earlier forms of Hinduism, it never enjoyed as much

prominence as it does in Brahmanical Hinduism). Yoga is a form of

mental and physical disciplines and ascetic practices (Walker 1968b, 616).

Yoga is ultimately a practical method to obtain salvation from samsara.

There are various forms of yoga, each of which includes several steps.

a. Karma yoga is salvation through works.

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 b. Bhakti yoga is salvation through faith.

c. Jnana yoga is salvation through knowledge.

d. Mantra yoga is salvation through the use of mantras and spells.

e. Laya yoga is salvation through the activation of spiritual centers

in the body.

f. Hatha yoga is salvation through ritual action.

g. Raja yoga is salvation through spiritual ritual action (617).

6. Bhakti is faith, attachment, or devotion to a god which procures divine

favor and salvation (Walker 1968a, 138). Personal gods are worshipped,

and religious individualism is embraced.

7. Maya is the doctrine (explored in depth in the Brahmanical Bhagavad

Gita) that proclaims the illusory nature of “the whole manifold world of

nature” (135). Maya is similar to Western philosophical monism, which

denies the reality of all particulars in the phenoumenal world and affirms

the ultimate unity of all reality (Joad 1965, 97). Discuss some implications

of this idea, and read the Bhagavad Gita chapter 2, verses 11–24 (trans.

Mascaro 1962).

C. Discuss the value of Hinduism.

1. Assess the strengths of Hinduism.

a. There is a strong sense of social solidarity.

b. It forms the basis of an ethical system that encourages personal

responsibility for actions done.

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 c. Religion often permeates the lives of its followers (Hume 1959,

41).

d. Some forms of Hinduism emphasize the importance of faith and

grace in receiving salvation.

e. It represents a wide variety of religious concepts and practices

borrowed from diverse backgrounds (i.e. it is a powerful

synthesis).

2. Assess the weaknesses of Hinduism.

a. The wide variety of forms are disparate and at times

contradictory in presuppositions and conclusions.

b. It is questionable whether Hinduism can even be viewed as one

continuous, monolithic religious development. It could be argued

that it is not a single religion.

c. The caste system (an important aspect of most of the earlier

forms of Hinduism) is divisive and fatalistic.

d. In popular practice is often no more that pantheistic idolatry.

e. Adherents can never know if they have achieved freedom from

samsara.

f. The Supreme Being is impersonal, and is a mere philosophical

absolute (Hume 1959, 39). The gods, while personal and

sometimes helpful to humans, in no way represent moral ideals.

g. It generally takes a low view of women and poor people, and

often ignores practical actions of charity, personal forgiveness, and

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community building. Discuss whether or not Hinduism can form

the basis of a just and equitable society.

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 Week Eight: Jainism

IV. Jainism

A. Discuss the background of Jainism.

1. The origins of Jainism are “difficult to determine . . . although

Nataputta Vardhamana, who became known to his followers as Mahavira

(“great hero”), has traditionally been identified as its founder (Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 116).

2. Legends are the only remaining sources of information about

Mahavira’s life. He was probably a contemporary of Gautama (Buddha),

Confucius, Lao-tzu (the traditional founder of Taoism), and the Jewish

prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel (116).

a) Mahavira was born to a wealthy family. He was unhappy and

left his luxury to become a wandering ascetic. Mahavira developed

an extremely severe form of asceticism, which included ahimsa

(non-injury to life) (117).

b) Mahavira developed five vows that Jain monks must follow to

achieve release from reincarnation.

1) Ahimsa (an extreme form of care for all life).

Discuss the traditional clothing of Jains during travel (118).

2) Truthfulness (although for the Jain, truth is relative).

Tell the Jain story of the blind men and the elephant (120).

3) Integrity. Honesty and propriety reach into every part of

a person’s life. There should be no stealing or taking what

25
 is not given to you, for property and objects are not worth

evil actions to obtain.

4) Sexual chastity (all pleasures of the flesh are evil). Some

Jains not only renounce sex, but also regard women in

general as a temptation to sin (120).

5) Disattachment from family, possessions, and homes.

Absolute self-enforced poverty is the ideal.

3. Buddhism and Jainism were probably both developed in India at about

the same time (the sixth century B.C.E.). Both religions protested against

traditional Vedic Hinduism and the caste system, but retained many

elements of Hindu thought and religious action.

B. Discuss the central doctrines of Jainism.

1. Humans are born, live, die, and are reborn (reincarnation).

2. In Jainism, karma is “built up in an individual as the result of activity

of any sort (emphasis mine)” (118). Discuss the differences of karma in

Hinduism and Jainism, and explore ramifications of the Jain idea.

3. Ahimsa (non-injury to life) requires constant attention to all forms of

life (from large animals to tiny bugs). Subsequently, most Jains avoid

agricultural work or even occupations of any kind (to avoid harming

living things) (119). Is this a logically sustainable position?

4. The focus on personal ethical purity brings to the forefront the

self-saving nature of Jainism (19). Read the Jain parable of the man in the

well (123–124).

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 5. The ideal of disattachment from worldly life derives from Jainism’s

philosophical duality (the soul is living, eternal, and valuable, while the

entire material universe is lifeless and evil) (118). Action and attachment

are the causes of rebirth.

6. Moksha (release from the cycles of life, death and rebirth) is a true

liberation of the soul from matter. It is attained by faithfully following the

five vows of the Jain monk.

C. Discuss the value of Jainism.

1. Assess the strengths of Jainism.

a) It regards all life as valuable.

b) It is centered on ethical action (or inaction).

c) It is mostly consistent in its dualism.

2. Assess the weaknesses of Jainism.

a) It denies the positive value of the material world.

b) Salvation is essentially self-centered.

c) A culture could not survive if it was made up entirely

of ideal Jains (because there would be no sex and little agricultural

work or work of any kind).

d) It has a low view of women and families (Hume 1959, 60).

27
 Week Nine: Buddhism

V. Buddhism

A. Discuss the background of Buddhism.

1. Buddha was probably born on the borderlands of modern-day Nepal and

Northern India in the sixth century B.C.E. with the name of Guatama

Siddartha (“he who fulfills his purpose”) of the Shakya clan (Mishra 2004,

95).

a. Legends surrounding Siddartha’s life (written nearly four

hundred years after his death) reveal that he was the son of a

Kshatriya raja (an Indian ruler), and that his mother, Maya, died

when he was seven days old (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 127;

Mishra 2004, 98).

b. Before Siddartha was born, it was predicted that when he grew

older he would either become a great king or a great teacher and

monk.

1) Siddartha’s parents were told that if he saw four sights (a

dead person, an old person, an ill person, and an ascetic

monk) he would become a great teacher and monk.

2) Wanting better things for their son, Siddartha’s father

attempted to keep his son secluded from the four sights by

surrounding him with only young, beautiful, healthy

people.

28
 3) His father’s plan failed when Siddartha left his father’s

palace one day and saw each of the four sights. After this,

Siddartha left his home and family behind (by this time,

Siddartha already had a wife and child) and became an

ascetic monk (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 128).

c. After several years of self-mortification, starving, and solitary

meditation, Siddartha realized that he could find no satisfaction in

this way of life.

d. Siddartha sat for many days and meditated beneath a fig (bodhi)

tree in a hopeless state, when suddenly Siddartha found

enlightenment.

e. From that moment on, he was the Buddha, and his teachings on

enlightenment and suffering found a foothold in India (129–130).

f. After teaching for forty-five years, Buddha reached the end of

his life in this world. Buddha’s final words (according to tradition)

were: “Subject to decay are all component things. Strive earnestly

to work out your own salvation” (131).

2. Ultimately, Buddha (and his followers after him) sought liberation from

samsara (“wandering”).

a. Buddha taught that everyone is afraid of danger and death, and

everyone counts life dear (Dhammapada, vv. 129–130). The mind

struggles to free itself from death like a fish striving for water

when thrown on dry land (v. 34).

29
 b. The key to escape from death (and consequently samsara) is

enlightenment to the unreality of the world. “When a man

considers this world as a bubble of froth, and as the illusion of an

appearance, then the King of death has no power over him” (v.

170).

c. If people can free themselves from desires, they will find

enlightenment, and rise above good and evil, dispelling all fear (v.

39). Infinite freedom is found when a person has no cravings or

desires for this world or for another world (v. 410).

3. Buddha claimed that he had brought his own mortal mind “to the joy of

the immortal Nirvana” through enlightenment (vv. 153–154). He sought to

bring others to this same enlightenment through his teachings. His

teachings centered on escape from suffering and samsara.

a. Buddhists seek refuge from suffering in the “three jewels,”

which are the Buddha, the dharma (the teachings of Buddha), and

the sangha (the Buddhist community) (Lopez 2004, 556). A

traditional Buddhist conversion formula (to indicate adherence to

the religion) is: “I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the

Dharma. I take refuge in the Community” (Snellgrove 2002, 39).

b. The refuge that is safe and free from sorrow and suffering is the

“Four Great Truths” given by Buddha (Dhammapada, vv. 191–

192).

1) Suffering exists.

30
 2) Suffering is caused by attachment and desire.

3) Salvation from suffering exists.

4) Salvation from suffering is found when a person follows

Buddha’s “Eightfold Path” in order to get release from the

cycle of samsara.

c. The eightfold path to the elimination of suffering is: right

understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right

livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation

(Fisher 1999, 44).

4. Shortly following Buddha’s death conflicts arose over the role and

teachings of Buddha. At the present, there are two main groups within

Buddhism—Mahayana and Hinayana (Fisher 1999, 133), although

Snellgrove (2002) argues that Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism are not

“two distinct phases,” but are instead “two fluctuating tendencies, usually

mingling together, and only kept strictly apart in certain philosophical

texts” (32).

a. Most Buddhists in the world are Mahayana, a word that means

“The Greater Vehicle” (45).

1) Mahayana Buddhists are found in China, Japan,

Vietnam, and Korea (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 148).

2) Within Mahayana Buddhism are several lesser

subgroups, among which are Tibetan Buddhism (in which

advanced meditation practices and rituals are performed to

31
 develop “inner qualities”), and Zen Buddhism (in which

discipline and meditation guided by a master help the

student to find the “natural mind”) (Fisher 1999, 45).

a) Tibetan Buddhists use magic, symbolism, and

sexual desire as means to enlightenment (Mishra

2004, 76). Gurus, or teachers, are important,

though monks are not elevated over laymen.

Tibetan Buddhists revere many types of Buddhas

and images of Bodhisattvas (76).

b) One important element of Zen Buddhism is the

koan. Koans are puzzles or riddles that are illogical

and that bring sudden enlightenment through

conundrum (Mascetti 1996, 14). The following is a

Zen Buddhist koan: “A monk asked Ummon, ‘What

is the teaching of the Buddha’s lifetime?’ Ummon

said, ‘Preaching facing oneness’” (50).

3) Mahayana are generally more liberal than Hinayana in

their interpretations of Buddhism.

b. Hinayana Buddhists are a minority conservative group, of which

the Theravada (meaning “Teaching of the Elders”) is the most

dominant (among many other subgroups) (Fisher 1999, 44–45).

1. Theravada Buddhists are found in Sri Lanka, Burma,

Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos

32
2. They are thought to mirror early Buddhism more closely

than does Mahayana.

33
 Week Ten: Buddhism (Continued)

c. Both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism center on Buddha, his

teaching, and the community of his followers, but view Buddha

and his mission in different ways. Mahayana Buddhists view

Buddha as “a universal, eternal principle,” while Theravada

Buddhists view Buddha as a teacher and example. Mahayana

Buddhists seek not only personal enlightenment, but other-

enlightenment as well (45; Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 137).

d. Within Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism two models of

enlightenment are espoused (both models are present in both

groups to some extent, further subdividing the groups) (Lopez

2004, 505).

1. In the recognition model, ignorance is suddenly dispelled

through an experience. People save themselves from within

(by introspection).

2. In the purification model, a person gradually comes to

understand and be enlightened through his or her own

works. People save themselves from without (by action).

e. Both models of enlightenment are present in the two types of

Theravada meditation: 1. Sammatta, intense concentration which

brings gradual progress toward enlightenment, and 2. Vipassana,

insight meditation which brings sudden enlightenment (Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 136).

34
B. Discuss the central doctrines of Buddhism.

1. Enlightenment is the key concept of Buddhism, and centers on the

extinguishment of desire and salvation from samsara. Enlightenment is an

intellectual, spiritual, and ethical idea.

2. Samsara is “the beginningless cycle of birth, death and rebirth,

composed of the realms of gods, demigods, humans, ghosts and hell

beings” (Lopez 2004, 554). This had been a central concern of Hinduism,

and now became of utmost importance to Buddha and his followers. The

whole point of enlightenment is liberation from samsara.

3. The ideal Buddhist who receives salvation is known as a Bodhisattva

(future Buddha). In Theravada, Bodhisattvas are merely ideal pre-

enlightened individuals, whereas in Mahayana they are savior figures who

assist in the enlightenment of others (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 137).

4. Introspection becomes the method of salvation through enlightenment.

A person must analyze his or her own sins, but not contemplate other’s

wrongdoings (Dhammapada, v. 50).

a. The person who does evil suffers in this world and in the next

world (v. 15), “but the greatest of all sins is indeed the sin of

ignorance. Throw this sin away, O man, and become pure from

sin” (v. 243).

b. Thus, knowledge is the key to liberation, and knowledge comes

through experience and meditation.

35
5. Nirvana is the end result of true enlightenment. Nirvana means

“extinguished like a candle” (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 132), and is the

“extinguishing of tanha (desire, thirst, craving)” (133). Nirvana is the end

of samsara. The illusion of the world’s reality is no longer felt, and

disattachment is complete.

6. Ethical action is of supreme importance in most forms of Buddhism.

Buddha summed up his teachings as “Do not what is evil. Do what is

good. Keep your mind pure” (Dhammapada, v. 183). Enlightenment and

action go hand in hand. Lay Buddhists and monks have various rules of

moral conduct that they must follow to attain enlightenment.

a. A sin, according to Buddha, is an action that a person has to

repent of (v. 67).

b. Humans are the root of their own evil. “Any wrong or evil a man

does, is born in himself and is caused by himself; and this crushes

the foolish man as a hard stone grinds the weaker stone” (v. 161).

If people sin, they are the only ones responsible for their sins.

c. For Buddhists there is no such thing as a “small sin.” A little evil

at a time builds up eventually into great evil. Therefore, all evil and

sin must be avoided (v. 121).

d. The wages of sin is karma, death, and rebirth in hell. “When a

fool does evil work, he forgets that he is lighting a fire wherein he

must burn one day” (Dhammapada, v. 136).

36
 1) There are no places a person can go to escape from evil

actions or death (vv. 127–128).

2) The effects of purity or sin are not necessarily apparent

at first, but if a person is patient he or she will receive the

fruit of their actions (whether good or bad) (vv. 119–120).

e. “Some people are born on this earth; those who do evil are

reborn in hell; the righteous go to heaven; but those who are pure

reach Nirvana” (v. 126). The liar (v. 306), the evil man (v. 307),

the hypocrite (v. 307), the adulterer (vv. 309–310), the person who

imperfectly lives an ascetic life (v. 311), and “those who carelessly

allow their life to pass by” are all on the path of hell and are going

to suffer in hell in future lives (v. 315).

7. Buddha taught that humans are without souls (or true “selves”) because

souls do not exist; they are anatman (non-soul).

a. True personal identity is an illusion.What humans think of as

souls are actually a combination of the physical body, feelings,

understanding, will, and consciousness (Hopfe and Woodward

2005, 132).

b. This combination of non-soulness (anatman) is born, dies, and is

reborn in an endless cycle. Attachment to the world, anatman, and

samsara causes suffering.

8. The idea of suffering (dukkha) for Buddha “is an all-encompassing

sense of life lived with perpetual loss” (Zacharias 2001, 40). The Hindu

37
idea of karma (the belief that past actions, even from previous lives,

drastically affects present reality) combines with Buddha’s idea of

suffering to produce a self-made prison of painful wandering for every

individual in the universe. Death and subsequent rebirth are seen as the

climax of suffering.

9. In most forms of Buddhism, the Buddha takes a central role (in place of

the gods of ancient Vedic Hinduism). Buddha taught that “even the gods

long to be the Buddhas who are awake and watch” (Dhammapada, v. 181).

a. The gods are transitory and ineffective in bringing about

salvation from the suffering of samsara.

b. Buddhists must listen to the Buddha, follow his teachings, and

commune with his followers. People must look for answers to the

c. eternal in the eternal. “All things indeed pass away, but the

Buddhas are forever in Eternity” (v. 255).

d. Although the Buddhas are without souls (they are anatman) and

were “extinguished” in Nirvana, and though they were in truth

only illusions in this world (v. 170; Lopez 2004, 460), the disciples

of Buddha must nevertheless follow Buddha’s path if they are to

achieve liberation and enlightenment.

38
 Week Eleven: Buddhism (Continued) and Sikhism

C. Discuss the value of Buddhism.

1. Assess the strengths of Buddhism.

a. It emphasizes a person’s inner attitude (Hume 1959, 87).

b. It presents the world with ethical absolutes.

c. Some of its adherents have sought to bring other people to

salvation.

d. In theory, all races, genders, and economic and political classes

are accepted into the community of Buddha to some degree.

e. It seeks to escape from suffering.

2. Assess the weaknesses of Buddhism.

a. It presents a fundamental impersonalism that is incompatible

with its own doctrines of self-salvation, the preexistence and

eternal existence of Buddha’s soul in the world, and the idea of

compassion for other humans (if other people’s souls are not real,

they are not worth saving, for in the end nothing will be saved)

(87).

b. It is world-denying.

c. It excessively emphasizes self-salvation.

VI. Sikhism

A. Discuss the background of Sikhism.

1. Around 900 C.E. Muslims began to invade India, concentrating many of

their conquests on northwest India (Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 156).

39
From that time onward Muslims and Hindus have had violent and hostile

interactions with each other.

2. Many reformers from within Islam and Hinduism sought to reconcile

the two groups and synthesize their religions. By the 15th century

Hinduism and Islam had developed several similar practices, including the

veneration of shared holy men, shrines, and other places of religious

devotion (157). These similarities brought some religious leaders to

propose that Islam and Hinduism were in fact different aspects of the same

religion.

a. One such leader was a Muslim named Kabir. He worshipped the

Hindu deities, yet taught that God was one (157).

b. Kabir was later revered by both Muslims and Hindus in India,

and “made a profound impression on the Sikhs and their literature”

(157).

3. In the late 15th century, a Hindu man named Nanak (a contemporary of

Kabir) was born in the Indian region of Punjab. Nanak became the founder

of Sikhism.

a. While Nanak’s family and neighbors were mostly Hindus, his

schoolteacher was a Muslim. From an early age, Nanak observed

that Muslims and Hindus had distinct beliefs and practices. But

Nanak stressed that before God all people are equal, and that

equality before God was the key to destroying barriers between

people (Singh 2000, 18).

40
 b. Nanak taught the unity of God. God created all, and pervades

the entire universe. God is unborn, timeless, eternal, self-existent,

and full of grace, enlightening those who earnestly seek him (23).

c. Nanak taught the Hindus that “pilgrimages, penances,

compassion and alms-giving bring a little merit, the size of a

sesame seed. But he who hears and believes and loves the Name

shall bathe and be made clean in a place of pilgrimage with him”

(20).

d. Nanak told the Muslims to “let compassion be your mosque, let

faith be your prayer mat, let honest living be your Koran, let

modesty be the rules of observance, let piety be the fasts you keep;

In such wisdom try to become a Muslim: right conduct the Ka’ba;

truth the prophet; good deeds your prayer; submission to the

Lord’s will your rosary” (20).

e. Nanak’s position was that Hinduism stressed basic compassion

while Islam stressed essential brotherhood (27).

f. Nanak was succeeded by a line of gurus. In Sikhism, gurus are

guides to universal spiritual salvation, and as such are able to

discover and teach universal truth (the gurus composed, collected,

and edited the sacred scriptures of Sikhism) (Kalsi 1999, 13).

4. There were ten human gurus (including Nanak) in Sikhism.

41
a. The third Sikh guru, Amardas, reasoned that castes were

false classifications because all men were equal before God, and

even the lowliest may know God and be a true Brahmin (30–31).

b. The sixth guru, Har Govind, in obedience to the dying wishes of

his father, the fifth guru Arjan, transformed Sikhism from a

peaceful religion of religious reconciliation to a militaristic group

struggling with national Muslim rulers (although some minor sects

continue to follow Nanak’s pacifistic tendencies) (Hume 1959,

105; Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 159, 161).

c. Seven of the first gurus contributed to the Adi Granth, the Sikh’s

most important sacred scriptures. The Adi Granth is written in six

different languages, and includes the works of thirty-seven authors,

including several Hindu and Muslim holy men. The last human

guru, Gobind Singh, proclaimed the Adi Granth to be his successor

as the living guru of Sikhs on earth. Since then, Sikhs have been

accused of committing idolatry because of their worship and

reverence for their scriptures (Hume 1959, 99).

d. The Dasam Granth is the poetry of Gobind Singh. It is an

important text to Sikhs, but is given less authority than the Adi

Granth (1999, 43–56).

e. In order to emphasize the social solidarity and brotherhood of all

Sikhs and to disavow any remains of the caste system, Sikhs all

42
 followed the last guru in changing their last names to Singh

(“lion”) (Hume 1959, 106).

f. There are only about nineteen million Sikhs in the world today,

most of whom live in the Indian region of Punjab (Hopfe and

Woodward 2005, 156).

B. Discuss the central doctrines of Sikhism.

1. The unity of God is the central doctrine of Sikhism (Kalsi 1999, 17).

Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, said “the temple and the mosque are the

same. So are Hindu worship and Muslim prayer” (22). Read and discuss

the Japji, which is memorized and recited every day by Sikhs (qtd. in

Hopfe and Woodward 2005, 163–167).

2. The unity of humanity is embraced by Sikhs as a fundamental

presupposition. Communal worship, communal meals, community service,

community-centered work, and communal sharing are all important

actions of Sikhs (32–42).

3. Submission to God’s sovereign will is taught in accordance with

Muslim belief (24–25).

4. Active righteousness is the key to salvation from samsara (the cycle of

life, death, and rebirth). Believers must not be mere spectators, or live as

secluded monks, but must be actively involved in righteous thoughts,

words, and actions (25–26). In order to escape from samsara, a person

must follow the guru and believe in God’s oneness and the equality of

humanity. When people escape the cycle, they attain spiritual liberation

43
 and merge with God. Thus, Sikhism embraces a form of eschatological

monism.

C. Discuss the value of Sikhism.

1. Assess the strengths of Sikhism.

a. It has a strong emphasis on ridding oneself of hypocrisy.

b. It embraces the brotherhood of humanity.

c. It has strong social solidarity.

d. It began as an attempt to reconcile two major world religions

with a single truth.

2. Assess the weaknesses of Sikhism.

a. The Supreme Being is sometimes thought of as personal,

sometimes as impersonal.

b. While the sacred writings are greatly revered as the great living

guru and guide to salvation on earth by Sikhs, very few adherents

know the content of their scriptures (Hume 1959, 98). This is not

an uncommon weakness in the major world religions.

c. There is an almost helpless submissive fatalism (110).

d. The synthesis of legalistic monotheism with Hinduism is at best

a questionable enterprise.

44
 Week Twelve: Conclusions

VII. Conclusions

A. Discuss several common features of the major world religions of India.

1. Reincarnation. Since the advent of the idea of reincarnation in India,

this theological and metaphysical idea has been the centerpiece of Indian

religion. Sikhs deny the reincarnation of deities, but accept the

reincarnation of humans (Kalsi 1999, 23).

2. Karma. All of the major world religions of India embrace the concept of

karma. Escape from both karma and reincarnation are central motivations

in Indian religions (Hume 1959, 108).

3. World denial. Each of the major world religions of India follows some

form of world denial. While Jains are perhaps the most extreme (and

consistent) of the major world religions of India in this regard, Hindus,

Buddhists and Sikhs embrace elements of asceticism, belief in the ultimate

unreality of the physical universe, and belief in transcendence above

physical reality through disattachment of some kind (Hume 1959, 102).

4. Temples. Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs all have some types of temples used

for worship and rituals and for ascetic practices. Some forms of Buddhism

are opposed to the use of temples (due to their rejection of the efficacy of

theism). Nevertheless, many Buddhists are very close to the other major

world religions of India in their forms of temple worship.

B. Discuss several points of dissimilarity between the major world religions of

India.

45
1. Monism.

a. Hindus disagree among themselves as to the nature of ultimate

reality. Some hold to polytheism, while others hold to monistic

pantheism.

b. Jains do not embrace monism, and Buddhists are often

indifferent as to the ultimate nature of the universe.

c. Sikhs teach a form of eschatological monism (monotheism that

leads to monism at some point in the future) (Hume 1959, 57, 84).

2. Belief in a deity or in many deities.

a. Some forms of Hinduism are thoroughly polytheistic, and are

open to the admission of new gods or goddesses. Other forms of

Hinduism consider polytheism ignorant idolatry, and argue for

some form of pantheism.

b. Jains opposed any form of theism at the beginning of their

history, but now they often accept the belief in gods (58).

c. Buddhists are indifferent to the question of gods, although the

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas take the place of gods in some forms of

Buddhism (particularly in Tibetan Buddhism).

d. Sikhism emphasizes the unity of God, and opposes polytheism

on principle (though polytheistic worship may be accepted as

worshipping the one God in different manifestations) (57).

46
3. The caste system.

a. Early Vedic Hinduism was developed alongside the caste system

of early Aryan civilization, and emphasized the importance of

castes in understanding one’s duties and karma. Modern forms of

Hinduism have attempted to throw out the historical religious

significance of the caste system, and by emptying it of its religious

significance have been able to abandon the caste system to a large

degree.

b. Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism have all historically fought

against the caste system (based on the brotherhood and unity of

humanity), although Jainism has come to accept it (Hume 1959,

59; Kalsi 1999, 23).

4. Sacred scriptures.

a. All of the world religions of India have their own sacred

scriptures.

b. Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs reject most of the Hindu scriptures

in favor of their own scriptures.

c. Most of the adherents in all the major religions of India are not

able to read or understand their own sacred scriptures (Hume 1959,

58).

d. Some Buddhist groups emphasize the soteriological efficacy of

their scriptures, while other Buddhist groups deny the ultimate

value of any scriptures.

47
 e. None of the major world religions of India claim that their

scriptures are infallible, though Sikhs are taught to worship their

scriptures as the living guru of Sikhism.

5. Idolatry.

a. Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists are all divided as to this issue.

Some forms of each of these religions are thoroughly idolatrous,

while other (more philosophical) forms of these religions are anti-

idolatrous. Idolatry tends to flourish on the popular level.

b. Sikhs have consistently opposed idolatry, though they have been

charged with idolatrously worshiping their scriptures (Kalsi 1999,

23).

6. The reality of the individual soul.

a. Hindus and Jains embrace the reality of the individual soul,

which is born, dies, and is reborn in a cycle of lives.

b. However, in philosophical Hinduism, the soul (atman) is the one

eternal ultimate reality (a monistic view of the soul).

c. Jains believe in the importance of the soul of all creatures

(Hindus also believe this, but do not practice its implications as

consistently).

d. Buddhists deny the ultimate reality of the soul (anatman).

e. Sikhs affirm the present reality of the soul, assert that all souls

are kindred, and teach that at the end of time all souls will become

one with God (eschatological monism).

48
C. Explore avenues of dialogue between the major world religions of India.

1. Discuss how the major world religions of India might dialogue with one

another, and ask “What might be the results of such dialogue?”

2. Discuss how the major world religions of the West might dialogue with

the major world religions of India, and ask “What might be the results of

such dialogue?”

a. What fundamental worldview differences are there?

b. What different emphases are there?

c. How might these differences have influenced the development

of the modern cultures of India and the West?

d. How have the major world religions of India affected the

religions of the West?

3. Discuss how Christian exclusivists might reach out and share the gospel

with adherents to one of the major world religions of India.

49
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